Some time ago, a friend sent me a 2003 Fast Company article titled “How To Make Your Own Luck.” The piece was about psychologist and professor Richard Wiseman’s research into luck. Basically his research has indicated that luck is not some supernatural thing that is helped by superstition, but rather based on a person’s attitude guided by whether you consider yourself lucky or unlucky.
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Get to know someone: Create a playlist
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I remembered today that I still have Eddie Rabbit’s I Love A Rainy Night on my iPod from an Edmonton Oilers’ 2006 playoff run playlist. I want to say it was on Ryan Smith’s playlist but sadly for some reason I think it was on Chris Pronger’s. Regardless, playlists are a ...Read More
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Back from a Twitter holiday
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This week I came back to Twitter after going on hiatus since April. A few weeks back my friend Aric asked me if it was some sort of experiment. I laughed. I’m not that smart, so no. Then I was reading something another friend wrote about why she wasn’t on Twitter. ...Read More
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How many drinks are too much?
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Sadly, drinking and driving continues to be a problem. The other day I ran across this interesting widget by CAA North and East Ontario. They created it about 2 years ago and stress it’s not scientifically based. It’s just a great new way to help educate people about the effects of ...Read More
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Web & social media for magazines
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In mid-March I had the opportunity to attend the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association (AMPA) conference with some colleagues. It’s the fourth year that we attend for our magazine techlife. Given my previous role, my interest is directed to the web and social media. In time since we’ve launched our magazine website, ...Read More
Thoughts on attending the Olympics
Anyone who’s been around me in the past few years or so knows I planned to go to Vancouver 2010.
It was watching the ’88 Calgary Olympics with my little brother that made me an extremely proud Canadian. Patriotism is what the Olympics have always represented for me. Being there completely reinforced why I had “I know I’ll be living it in Canada” (Sloan) embossed on the back of my iPod years ago.
We went to two events (men’s ski jumping preliminaries before the opening ceremonies and women’s freestyle moguls where Jenn Heil took home a silver).
Quite literally, these athletes have tens of seconds to qualify for the finals and if they do, they have same amount of time to make the podium. So really all of those years of dedication come down to less than a minute of performance time and that’s what defines you forever after. That kind of determination is unbelievably admirable.
You could feel the energy from the crowds the moment the Opening Ceremonies started and when we got caught the path of torch bearing Wayne Gretzky, even though he didn’t seem too excited.
Globe and Mail columnist Stephen Brunt’s did a great video essay for CTV about the undeniable pride and patriotism that the Games seem to have inspired.
Having Alexandre Bilodeau capture the first gold on home soil couldn’t have been more perfect. Like most Canadian athletes, his absolute genuineness shines through.
The story of inspiration and sibling love with his brother Frederic, who has Cerebral Palsy, really put the spotlight on what he brings to the world in spite of his condition. I had the opportunity to join a torchbearer with Cerebral Palsy in January and affected me in a way I never expected.
The Bilodeau story was also perfect because he’s an athlete from Quebec. Yes Quebec is part of our great nation and I, like many Canadians hope it always remains. There was no doubt, Bilodeau is a proud Canadian.
There’s just so much to say about the whole experience but here are some of the not so good parts.
- Sustainability: Back in June ’09, I was at the CPRS National Conference and took in a few presentations by VANOC representatives. One presentation was on how these games would be the first sustainable games. In fact, London 2012 would be using Vancouver 2010 as a template to plan their events. So knowing that, I was quite disheartened when my friend was asked to get rid of an apple and water when going through security. Also, because the sponsor was Coca-Cola, you could only buy bottled water on the hill. Selling food at the venues was also a disaster because you could only buy form one spot and the lineups were hours long (so that by the time you’d get to the front, the event would be done). If they would have let us keep our apple and fill the water bottle at a Coca-Cola sponsored water jug on the hill like they do at golf courses, they would have had me as a customer for life. I know when it comes to corporate social responsibility, organizations can always be 100% sustainable, but that was an easy one that the sponsor could have offered.
- Sponsorship: The other part about sponsorship that made me angry was that I had to get a Visa card. I have many other credit cards, but because Visa is a sponsor, my choices to buy tickets were to send a cheque and hope it gets there in time or get a Visa. Because I like confirming everything online I got a Visa. Then before leaving I had a notice sent to me saying that all the venues will only accept cash or Visa. For stuff that you buy at a concession, cash is not a big deal. But when we went to the Olympic Superstore in The Bay in downtown Vancouver, the choices were the same. Most people will buy over $100 worth of stuff, so chances of paying cash are pretty slim. Seriously though, it was the Bay, so they are setup to do all forms of payment. I guarantee I won’t be keeping my Visa.
- Event logistics: For the most part, our trip out to Whistler went quite well. Even when we were sitting out in the stands, it was like someone ordered the sunshine for the event and the moment it was done, it went behind the clouds. Our day at Cypress Mountain was not so pleasant though. It started by having our mandatory bus transportation to the venue bring us late to the event because bus drivers didn’t show up. By the time we completed the trek from the drop-off point to our seats, we only saw the last few skiers come down in the preliminaries. Still we weren’t too bothered by it all because we were excited to be there. We then decided to grab something to eat and drink and once we made it through the crowds from the stands to the only area where they sold food, we were told the lines would be 2.5-3 hours long. With a two hour break in between the preliminaries and the finals, that would mean the event would be over by the time we’d get to the front of the line – of course if there was any food left. So we decided to head back to the entrance to some vending machines that we saw, where we could at least get something to drink. When we got there we realized that the vending machines were a few feet away from us but on the outside of the gate (maybe 20-30 feet away) and if we attempted to get to them we wouldn’t be allowed back in even though we were in plain sight of the workers. At this point we were cold and wet and the thought of fighting through the bus lineups in the dark as everyone left at the same time a few hours from then didn’t appeal to us. Instead we hopped on a bus right away (although we had to wait a while to get clearance to leave because no one seemed to know what was happening) to catch the end of the event in a bar at the bottom.
While some parts of the planning and logistics really disappointed me, I wouldn’t trade anything for having experienced it because it is truly about the people and the stories that come from it. That will always remain with me.
Olympic games captivate emotions
Later this week, I am fortunate enough to be heading to the Olympics in Vancouver. It’s been a lifelong dream to actually experience the games first-hand.
For me, the Olympics don’t keep me interested because of the politics or the controversies. It’s about the people who dedicate their lives for a chance at glory. I absolutely love those stories and experiencing the emotion in real-time.
The emotions that games evoke are strong – and fortunately can be relived infinitely through social media.
Fifty-year member of the Canadian Public Relations Society Don LaBelle, APR, FCPRS shares a story from a fundraising gala in ‘76 for the ’78 Commonwealth Games. His committee brought in the top three runners from the four minute mile at the ’54 Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, including Roger Bannister.
Hear Don’s story: (keep in mind the crowd’s reaction was some 20+ years after the four minute mile)
If you’re not familiar with the run, watch this video first.
Stories from athletes around the world are great, but seriously GO CANADA!
Start by being genuinely happy
This is about as personal as I will get in this blog, but I wanted to share this video that I had the opportunity to shoot this week. It can serve as a reminder to us all to begin by being happy.
Steve Parent-Korbie was born with Cerebral Palsy and given a 5 per cent chance to live past 24 hours. Even if he did live, his parents were told that he’d likely be paralyzed or mentally challenged. Of course he’s neither, in fact he’s quite mobile and active.
What comes across most though is his enthusiasm. When you are around Steve, it’s absolutely clear that he’s a genuinely grateful man. He’s someone you just want to continue being around. His story touched a number of us this week and the emotion I felt when he had the opportunity to carry the torch was just overwhelming. I applied a couple times to be a part of the torch relay, but this was by far the best way to take part.
My hope is that his 15 minutes of fame continue well beyond because if you have the opportunity to be near him, you will understand how we should all lead our lives. Great inspiration as we near the Olympics.